Systems and methods for autonomously controlling agricultural machinery

• US 6,591,145 B1
• Filed: 09/21/2000
• Issued: 07/08/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Battelle Energy Alliance LLC (Battelle Memorial Institute)
• Original Assignee: Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC
• Inventors: Bingham, Dennis N., Hoskinson, Reed L., Hess, J. Richard, Svoboda, John M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Follansbee, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAM, THOMAS K
• Application Number:
  US09/666,244
• Time in Patent Office: 1,020 Days
• Field of Search: 700/28, 700/31, 700/48, 700/47, 701/50, 56/102.R, 56/102.B, 56/102.C, 56/102.D, 56/102.E, 56/102.G, 56D/IG.15, 460/1, 460/4, 460/5, 460/6, 460/7
• US Class Current: 700/28
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 41/127 Control or measuring arrangements specially adapted for combines
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 27/02 characterised by the use of electric means

Abstract

Systems and methods for autonomously controlling agricultural machinery such as a grain combine. The operation components of a combine that function to harvest the grain have characteristics that are measured by sensors. For example, the combine speed, the fan speed, and the like can be measured. An important sensor is the grain loss sensor, which may be used to quantify the amount of grain expelled out of the combine. The grain loss sensor utilizes the fluorescence properties of the grain kernels and the plant residue to identify when the expelled plant material contains grain kernels. The sensor data, in combination with historical and current data stored in a database, is used to identify optimum operating conditions that will result in increased crop yield. After the optimum operating conditions are identified, an on-board computer can generate control signals that will adjust the operation of the components identified in the optimum operating conditions. The changes result in less grain loss and improved grain yield. Also, because new data is continually generated by the sensor, the system has the ability to continually learn such that the efficiency of the agricultural machinery is continually improved.

Claims

1. In an environment including machinery having components to produce an output, a system for controlling the machinery to optimize the output, the system comprising:

a plurality of sensors, wherein at least some of the plurality of sensors are operably associated with one or more of the components such that a current characteristic of each component is measured;

a computer configured to receive sensor data from the plurality of sensors including each current characteristic of each component measured by the at least some of the plurality of sensors, the computer including a database containing historical statements including historical characteristics of the one or more components, wherein the computer is configured to mine the database, produce a set of mined historical statements and analyze the sensor data including the current characteristics in light of the set of mined historical statements, and generate an optimum configuration for the machinery; and

a control module, wherein the control module generates one or more control signals based on the optimum configuration to adjust the one or more components such the output of the machinery is optimized.

2. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors comprises an output loss sensor, the output loss sensor configured to detect fluorescence properties of the output.

3. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a manual control module, wherein the manual control module overrides the one or more control signals.

4. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the control signals adjust at least one of:

a fan speed;

a forward velocity of the machinery;

a chaff opening;

a rotor speed; and

a concave.

5. A system as defined in claim 1, where the system further comprises a learning system.

6. A system as defined in claim 2, wherein the output loss sensor is a grain loss sensor configured to detect fluorescence properties of a plant residue.

7. In an agricultural environment including agricultural machinery for harvesting a grain, a system for optimizing the operation of the agricultural machinery in order to minimize a grain loss, the system comprising:

a plurality of sensors operably configured to provide sensor data including data representative of characteristics of one or more components of the agricultural machinery;

a database having a first portion storing historical statements including historical characteristics of the one or more components, and a second portion storing both current statements and mined data;

a computer configured to receive the sensor data from the plurality of sensors and mine the historical statements stored in the first portion of the database to produce the mined data, wherein the sensor data and the mined data are analyzed to generate optimum operating conditions for the agricultural machinery; and

a control module, the control module generating control signals to adjust the one or more components of the agricultural machinery based on the optimum operating conditions generated by the computer such that the grain loss is minimized.

8. A system as defined in claim 7, wherein the one or more components comprise one or more of:

a mower, a header auger, a header rake, an elevator, a rotor, a concave, a grain pan, a chaffing sieve, a cleaning sieve, a beater, a grate, a fan; and

an auger and elevator system.

9. A system as defined in claim 7, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise at least one of:

a grain loss sensor;

a forward velocity sensor;

a fan speed sensor;

a chaff opening sensor;

a rotor speed sensor;

a concave force sensor;

a concave position sensor;

a grain moisture sensor;

a grain yield sensor; and

a differential pressure sensor configured to sense a differential pressure across a cleaning sieve system.

10. A system as defined in claim 7, wherein the first portion and the second portion of the database comprise a computer-readable medium and wherein the first portion of the database is accessible by the computer.

11. A system as defined in claim 7, further comprising a learning system.

12. A system as defined in claim 7, further comprising a manual control module for overriding the control signals produced by the control module.

13. A system as defined in claim 7, wherein the control signals adjust at least one of:

a fan speed;

a forward velocity of the agricultural machinery;

a chaff opening;

a rotor speed;

a concave force, and a concave position.

14. A system as defined in claim 9, wherein the grain loss sensor senses emission wavelengths of plant residue to quantify a grain loss data.

15. In a combine used for harvesting grain, a system for controlling the combine such that the grain harvested by the combine is optimized, the system comprising:

a plurality of sensors operably associated with one or more components of the grain combine, the plurality of sensors generating sensor data including data representing measurements of the operation of the one or more components;

a database storing historical data including historical characteristics of the one or more components and current data including sensor data, wherein the historical data and the current data are related to the grain;

a computer configured to receive the sensor data, mine the historical data to produce a mined data set dependent upon the received sensor data, and analyze the current data and the mined data set to generate an adjustment for the components of the combine, wherein the adjustment changes the operation of the components such that grain harvested is optimized.

16. A system as defined in claim 15, wherein the components comprise one or more of:

a mower, a header auger, a header rake, an elevator, a rotor, a concave, a grain pan, a chaffing sieve, a cleaning sieve, a beater, a grate, a chaff opening;

a fan; and

an auger and elevator system.

17. A system as defined in claim 15 wherein the plurality of sensors comprise at least one of:

a grain loss sensor;

a forward velocity sensor;

a fan speed sensor;

a chaff opening sensor;

a rotor speed sensor;

a concave force sensor;

a concave position sensor;

a grain moisture sensor;

a grain yield sensor; and

a differential pressure sensor configured to sense a differential pressure across a cleaning sieve system.

18. A system as defined in claim 15, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors comprises a grain loss sensor including an excitation device that causes plant residue to emit emission wavelengths, wherein the emission wavelengths are analyzed to quantify a grain loss.

19. A system as defined in claim 15, further comprising a control module, the control module generating control signals based on the adjustment to alter the operation of at least one of the components.

20. A system as defined in claim 15, wherein the adjustment includes a change in at least one of:

a forward velocity of the combine;

a speed of a fan;

a size of a chaff opening;

a rotational speed of a rotor; and

a position of a concave.

21. A system as defined in claim 15, further comprising a manual control module for overriding the adjustment generated by the computer.

22. A system as defined in claim 15, wherein an operator selects which of the plurality of sensors generate sensor data such that other sensors do not generate sensor data.

23. In a system including a grain combine for harvesting grain, a method for autonomously controlling components of the grain combine to maximize a grain yield, the method comprising:

sensing, through the use of a plurality of sensors, current operating characteristics of the components of the grain combine;

mining a database containing historical statements to produce mined data;

analyzing the mined data and the current operating characteristics of the components;

generating an optimum operating configuration for the components of the grain combine based on the analysis of the mined data and the current operating characteristics; and

adjusting the operation of the components to match the optimum operating configuration such that the grain yield is optimized.

24. A method as defined in claim 23, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise at least one of:

a grain loss sensor;

a forward velocity sensor;

a fan speed sensor;

a chaff opening sensor;

a rotor speed sensor;

a concave force sensor;

a concave position sensor;

a grain moisture sensor;

a grain yield sensor; and

a differential pressure sensor configured to sense a differential pressure across a cleaning sieve system.

25. A method as defined in claim 23, wherein the mining a database further comprises performing a statistical analysis of the historical statements.

26. A method as defined in claim 23, wherein the generating an optimum operating configuration further comprises the step of identifying one or more components to be adjusted.

27. A method as defined in claim 23, further comprising the optional act of manually controlling at least one of the components of the combine.

28. A method as defined in claim 23, wherein the adjusting the operation of the components further includes adjusting one or more of:

a combine forward velocity, a fan speed, a concave force, a concave position, a rotor speed, and a chaff opening.

29. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 23.

30. A method as defined in claim 26, wherein the adjusting the operation of the components further comprises the step of adjusting the identified one or more components.